would the Lib Dems oppose that?
The Lib Dems will engage in the debate. Several years ago we rejected the idea but times change and I think we would be responsible to revisit that issue. We need to understand the extent of the terrorist threat and how those events could be carried out and whether ID cards would have helped. There are a lot of people in the party who would like to go down that road. But it is a very serious matter to go down that road and many serious questions are opened by it – not just civil liberties and data protection but a whole series of issues, and we don’t want the terrorists to force us down an avenue down which we would not otherwise have gone. This week the death was announced of the Labour-Liberal Democrat joint consultative committee (JCC) – is that a success or a failure? I think for the party it’s a step forward because for some time there’s been a danger the party is seen as too close to Labour, not able to oppose Labour in the way they need opposing – in a way which the Conservative
